The rapes began 24 years ago. Now, an arrest

The rapes began 24 years ago. Now, an arrest

Police in South Carolina have seized a man suspected of raping 12 women—one of whom was targeted twice—in attacks going back nearly 25 years.

“I can’t imagine how some of the victims must have felt knowing that it took this long,” but “prayers have been answered,” Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said at a press conference, per ABC News.

Wright said suspect Gregory Frye, 52, was living in the area, “going about his business like nothing happened.” He was tracked down after investigators reinterviewed victims—aged 14 to 51 at the time of the assaults—and acquired new DNA samples.

The big break came last week as investigators reportedly learned Frye’s DNA matched evidence from six of the victims, per NBC News, which notes that evidence previously linked all 13 crimes from 1995 to 2003.

Frye, who closely resembles a composite sketch, was arrested Tuesday night on burglary, kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct charges stemming from one sexual assault at Watermere Apartments. Per the Spartanburg Herald Journal, a woman described being raped by a man who loomed over her bed in the early hours of March 2, 1999.

Pending are additional charges related to the other assaults. They similarly occurred in the early morning at apartments across Spartanburg County, 90 miles north of Columbia.

“This is a great day to know that we got at least one person that’s going to be held accountable for a reign of terror that he caused for these victims,” Wright said. Frye was being held in Spartanburg County Detention Center without bail. (The suspected “NorCal Rapist” was nabbed in September.)